Riot Games Introduces Major Changes to Brand in League of Legends Patch 13.22
Riot Games is set to make a significant update to Brand in the upcoming League of Legends Patch 13.22. The changes to the Burning Vengeance champion aim to establish him as a core mid laner or jungler.
Transitioning Brand from Support to Damage-Dealer
League’s lead gameplay designer, Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, announced the team’s intention to enable Brand’s transition in a Patch 13.22 preview on Twitter. Riot Games is satisfied with Brand’s current state as a support in Season 13 and now wants to give him the ability to deal more damage in addition to his role as a support.
How Riot plans to implement these changes will be revealed soon.
Brand’s Struggle as a Support
However, some may question this approach from the developers. Brand currently falls below the top-tier of League supports, with a win rate of 48.71 percent in this patch among high-ranked players, according to stats site U.GG.
Although Brand’s win rate does manage to reach parity at all ranks, it has been a challenging journey for the Burning Vengeance throughout Season 13. Previous changes to his kit, such as increased ability power ratio and mana restoration in Patch 13.16, did not significantly impact his win rate as a support. Subsequent stat adjustments in Patch 13.21 also failed to make a substantial difference.
Expanding Brand’s Role to the Jungle
This update is the second attempt to introduce Brand as a viable jungle champion. Riot’s Phreak discussed the decision to push Brand, along with other mages, into more central roles beyond just support in his Patch 13.21 rundown. The aim is to enhance the versatility of certain champions, allowing for greater team composition possibilities.
“Mages are viable in support, viable in bot lane, viable in mid-lane, but very few can work in the jungle—why not open the class up to more things?” Phreak explained.
Conclusion
As a player who has struggled to make Brand work in various League updates and metas in the past, it is exciting to see Riot officially endorse Brand as a jungle champion. The upcoming Patch 13.22 will bring changes to Brand’s abilities, with improvements to his E ability, Conflagration. This adjustment will provide Brand players with enhanced damage-dealing capabilities.
Stay tuned for the full League Patch 13.22 preview from Phroxzon, which will provide a detailed look at the changes to Brand.
Riot Games, Brand, League of Legends, Patch 13.22, mid lane, jungle, support, damage-dealer, win rate, mage, jungle mages, team compositions, update, abilities, Conflagration, E ability.